Chester Bennington

Band: Linkin Park

Chester Bennington died of an apparent suicide by hanging at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California. His housekeeper discovered his body around 9:00 a.m. on July 20th 2017. Shinoda confirmed his death on Twitter, writing, "Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one." Chester Bennington's death occurred on what would have been Chris Cornell's 53rd birthday. Cornell, who was a close friend of Chester, had also died by suicide when hanging himself two months earlier. Mike Shinoda noted that Chester Bennington was very upset when the band performed "One More Light" in his honor, where he could not finish singing the song, be it in rehearsal or live recording.
Chester Bennington had a child, Jaime, from his relationship with Elka Brand. In 2006, he also adopted Brand's other son, Isaiah. He married his first wife, Samantha Marie Olit in 1996. They had one child together. Chester Bennington's relationship with his first wife declined during his early years with Linkin Park, and they divorced in 2005. In 2006, he married Talinda Ann Bentley, a former Playboy model with whom he had three children.

Chester Bennington was plagued with poor health during the making of the album Meteora, and struggled to attend some of the recording sessions. In the summer of 2003, he began to suffer from extreme abdominal pain and gastrointestinal issues while filming the music video for "Numb" in Prague. He was forced to return to the United States for surgery, and filmed the remainder of the music video in Los Angeles.
Chester Bennington sustained a wrist injury in October 2007 while attempting to jump off a platform during a show in Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena. Despite the injury, he continued to perform the entire show with a broken wrist, before heading to the emergency room where he received five stitches.
In 2011, Chester Bennington fell ill again, and Linkin Park was forced to cancel three shows and reschedule two from the 'A Thousand Suns World Tour'. Chester injured his shoulder during the band's tour in Asia and was advised by doctors to have immediate surgery, cancelling their final show at Pensacola Beach, Florida and ending their tour.
Chester Bennington injured his ankle in January 2015 during a basketball game. He attempted to cope with the injury and perform with the aid of crutches and a knee scooter. Linkin Park later canceled the remainder of their tour to allow him to undergo surgery and recover.Chester Charles Bennington was born on March 20th 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. His mother was a nurse, while his father was a police detective who worked with child sex abuse cases. Chester took interest in music at a young age, citing bands Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots as his early inspirations and dreamed of becoming a member of Stone Temple Pilots, which he later achieved.
Chester Bennington's parents divorced when he was eleven years old, and his father gained custody of him. After the divorce, Chester began using marijuana, alcohol, opium and cocaine.
At the age of seventeen Chester Bennington moved in with his mother. He worked at a Burger King before starting his career as a professional musician.
Eventually Chester was able to overcome his drug addiction, and went on to denounce drug use in future interviews.
In an interview, Chester Bennington revealed that he had suffered sexual abuse from an older male friend when he was seven years old. He was afraid to ask for help because he did not want people to think he was gay or lying, and the abuse continued until the age of thirteen. The abuse and situation at home affected Chester so much that he felt the urge to kill people and run away. To comfort himself, he drew pictures and wrote poetry and songs. Chester later revealed the abuser's identity to his father, but chose not to continue the legal case after he found that the abuser was a victim himself.
Chester Bennington first began singing with a band called Sean Dowdell and His Friends?. They released an eponymous three-track cassette in 1993. Later, Sean Dowdell and Bennington moved on to form a new band, Grey Daze, a post-grunge band from Phoenix, Arizona. The band recorded three albums; 'Demo' in 1993, 'Wake/Me' in 1994, and ...'No Sun Today' in 1997. Chester Bennington left Grey Daze in 1998.
Chester Bennington was frustrated and almost ready to quit his musical career altogether when Jeff Blue, the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered him an audition with the future members of Linkin Park. Chester Bennington quit his day job at a digital services firm and took his family to California, where he had a successful audition with Linkin Park, who were then called Xero. He managed to record the song for his audition in a day, missing his own birthday celebration in the process. Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the band's other vocalist, made significant progress together, but failed to find a record deal. After facing numerous rejections, Jeff Blue, now a vice president of A&R at Warner Bros., intervened again to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.
On October 24th 2000, Linkin Park released their debut album, Hybrid Theory, through Warner Bros. Records. Chester Bennington and Shinoda wrote the lyrics to Hybrid Theory based on some early material. Shinoda characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions, and experiences, and as "everyday emotions you talk about and think about."
Chester Bennington primarily served as Linkin Park's lead vocalist, but occasionally shared the role with Shinoda. All Music Guide described Chester Bennington's vocals as "higher-pitched" and "emotional", in contrast to Shinoda's hip-hop-style delivery. Both members also worked together to write lyrics for the band's songs.
Chester Bennington co-founded Dead by Sunrise in 2005 with Orgy and Julien-K members Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck. Dead by Sunrise made their live debut in May 2008, performing four songs at the 13th anniversary party for Club Tattoo in Tempe, Arizona.
The band released their debut album 'Out of Ashes' on October 13th 2009.
In February 2013, Stone Temple Pilots parted ways with long-time lead singer Scott Weiland. The band recruited Chester Bennington to replace Weiland in May 2013. On May 18th 2013, Chester Bennington took the stage at KROQ's Weenie Roast with the band. The set-list included original Stone Temple Pilots songs, as well as their first single with Chester Bennington on vocals called "Out of Time", which debuted on May 19th and was available for free download. It was later announced by Chester and the band in an exclusive KROQ interview that he was officially the new frontman of Stone Temple Pilots and discussed the possibility of a new album and tour. On May 19th 2013, the band released a free download of their first single, "Out of Time" that features Chester Bennington via their official website. The song "Out of Time" is featured on their EP High Rise, which was released on October 8th 2013. Chester Bennington reflected on joining Stone Temple Pilots, stating, "Every band has its own kind of vibe. Stone Temple Pilots has this sexier, more classic rock feel to it. Linkin Park is a very modern, very tech-heavy type of band. I grew up listening to these guys. When this opportunity came up, it was just like a no-brainer." Chester Bennington stated in interviews that singing lead vocals in Stone Temple Pilots was his lifelong dream. He left the band on good terms due to his commitments with Linkin Park in 2015.